Team Development

Beam Reach Navigational Approach

When evaluating potential partners, ask the following questions: 

• Can they demonstrate the qualifications?  

When writing your proposal, you need to be able to demonstrate that your selected partners have the specific capability to meet the requirements of the grant, whether through success with similar projects or projects that utilized similar expertise. 

• Are they appropriately qualified?  

To collaborate effectively, it is important to have partners who have relevant experience and are also appropriately qualified for the work. Underqualified partners may jeopardize performance, and overqualified partners may require larger portions of the budget and may prioritize resources for larger projects.   

• Do they have personnel to lead their division of the work?  

To benefit from a partner’s subject matter expertise or specialized skills, you will also need a qualified and willing individual, either from their organization or yours, to oversee its portion of the project, including managing budget, communication, and deliverables.    

• Are they overcommitting or under-committing?  

To successfully achieve your project’s goals – and increase the likelihood you will be selected for future funding opportunities, you want a partner who is committed to delivering high-quality work on schedule and is prepared to meet the demands to do so.  

• Do they have experience working with agencies or receiving federal funding?  

Executing a project under the supervision of a federal agency carries unique, detailed accounting, reporting, and other project management requirements. To smoothly meet those obligations, it will be beneficial to have a partner who understands and is prepared to take on their share of those responsibilities, regardless of their prior experience doing so.